Digital Commons Network^™

All In The Junkab'al: The House In Q'Eqchi' Society, Ashley Kistler

Faculty Publications

Recent studies examine how individuals create kinship through economic transactions, ritual, and religion. This paper explores how Q’eqchi’ women in San Juan Chamelco, Guatemala generate the logics of kinship through marketing. In Chamelco, the Q’eqchi’ construct kinship through the local category of the junkab’al, ‘family’, literally ‘one home’. Members of Q’eqchi’ junkab’als create the substance of kinship through shared residence and participation in daily life. Chamelco’s women use marketing to establish kinship, incorporating market employees into their junkab’als. Since market positions have been passed down in junkab’als for generations and constitute the family estate, market women seek heirs to perpetuate …

"As Our Elders Taught Us To Speak It": Chinuk Wawa And The Process Of Creating Authenticity, Kylie N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chinuk Wawa (also called Chinook Jargon) began as a trading language of the Pacific Northwest in the late eighteenth century. As it developed, it became the major heritage language of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, an intertribal nation located in Oregon. Now, as older speakers of the language pass on, there is an effort by the Grand Ronde to revitalize this language not only on the Grand Ronde Reservation, but also in nearby Portland, Oregon. However, revitalization can be a complicated process, as tribal leaders attempt to define Chinuk to maintain its traditions while adapting its vocabulary for …

Autodenominations: An Ethnographer’S Account From Peruvian Amazonia, Peter Gow

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Mission, Food, And Commensality Among The Yukpa: Indigenous Creolization And Emerging Complexities In Indigenous Modernities, Ernst Halbmayer

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Indigenous Creolization, Amerindian Hybridity And The Invention Of Authenticity, Ernst Halbmayer, Catherine Alès

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

The Languages Of Amazonia, Patience Epps, Andrés Pablo Salanova

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Systems Of Naming And Creolization: Authentic Acculturation And/Or Authentic Tradition? The Yanomami Case, Catherine Alès

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

A Discursive Analysis Of A Pregnancy Center: How Pregnant Women Are Encouraged To Develop A Sense Of Self-Worth And Emotional Wellbeing Through The Use Of Rhetoric And Imagery, Jessica Postma

Masters Theses

This study presents and alternative approach to how pregnancy is interpreted in western society and how settings such as a pregnancy center both challenges and reinforces these social standards. The promotion of abstinence, the aversion to abortion, notions of truth and morality, religious narratives, and the standard of care are all integral components to this analysis of pregnancy, language, and culture.

The Werewolf In Between Indians And Whites: Imaginative Frontiers And Mobile Identities In Eighteenth Century Amazonia, Mark Harris

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

No abstract provided.

Losing The Hacienda: The Agrarian Reform's Effect On Landowners In The Peruvian Andes, Susana Fajardo

Senior Theses

In 1968 the Peruvian governement was overtaken by a military coup, ushering in the agrarian reform-a system of land distribution that would irrevocably change the country. Concepción, a member of the land-owning elite, lived in a time and place at the very heart of the agrarian reform. As both a woman and acting manager for her family's haciendas during the 1950s and 1960s, she provides an excellent case study of how Peru's national agrarian reform policies changed the lives of land-owners in the highlands of Ayacucho. I will use her life to do an ethnography of the particular to examine …

Iberian Globalization And The Rise Of Catholic Theology Of Religions In The Xvi Century, Enrico Beltramini Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

This article provides a synthetic view of the historical and theological components that explain how Catholicism came to understand the great religious systems in Asia as doctrinally inferior during the sixteenth century in response to the discovery/invasion of the “New Worlds” by Iberian Europeans.2 A strong emphasis on the universal salvific will of God led Catholic theologians to elaborate a doctrine that ultimately altered Catholicism’s understanding of non-Christian religions. 3 The article suggests that the predominant Catholic view of non-Christian religions has been shaped by a specific theological vision that was raised in sixteenth century Southern Europe. In order to …

A.N. Brady (Ed.) China’S Thought Management. Oxon And New York: Routledge. 2012., Elisa Nesossi Ph.D.

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

Mary Crawford. Sex Trafficking In South Asia: Telling Maya’S Story. London And New York: Routledge. 2010, Vinod Janardhanan

Journal of International and Global Studies

Book review.

French In Madagascar: A Colonial Language After Independence, Christopher Roehrer-Macgregor

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The French first landed off the south-eastern coast of Madagascar in December of 1648. A little over two and a half centuries later they would land troops, marking the beginning of sixty years of colonization. The groundwork for government and education set during these years continues to the present day, including the use of the French language. In this study I look at the role of the French language in modern-day Madagascar. Using interviews from two major urban centers, I argue that French has a dualistic role, both as an opportunity for self-advancement for a select few, while also as …

The Morphological Evolution Of The Vocal Apparatus In The Human Lineage: Implications On The Emergence Of Language, Jacob Jesch

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Considering Kranzhügeln: An Exploration Into The Structural Variation And Environmental/Spatial Distribution Of The Third Millennium "Kranzhügel" Sites, Elise Jakoby

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

First named by von Oppenheim over a century ago, the distinctive third millennium BC kranzhügeln, or "wreath-mound," sites of the Syrian Desert remain a poorly understood phenomenon. While archaeological investigations have been undertaken at a handful of kranzhügel-like sites including Tell Chuera, Tell al-Rawda, and Tell Beydar, the overall number, geographic distribution, and morphological variation of so-called "kranzhügel" sites remains largely unexplored.

1960s-era CORONA satellite imagery available through the CORONA Atlas Project (http://corona.cast.uark.edu/) now enables more systematic documentation of the kranzhügel sites and the production site-scale visual and quantitative analysis. Analysis of kranzhügel distribution and morphology …

Re-Examining Late Chalcolithic Cultural Collapse In South-East Europe, Harvey Benjamin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research into the Balkan Chalcolithic often overlooks the dramatic changes in society that occurred beginning in the late Fifth Millennium BCE. Most settlements were abandoned along with changes in mortuary customs, ceramic and decorative traditions, domestic rituals, crafts, housing styles, mining, and metallurgy. These changes happened at a time when these Chalcolithic societies seemed to be at their peak. Theories as to what caused these changes include migrations/invasions, anthropogenic environmental degradation, gradual internal changes through innovation and outside contacts, and climate change. This thesis attempts to synthesize, and critique material relating to this topic, and ultimately provide my own opinions …

The Impacts Of Colonial And Environmental Processes On Ceramic Plainware At Salinas Province, New Mexico, Lindsey Elizabeth Daub

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis investigates whether Spanish demands on native time, labor and diet resulted in changes to the plainware ceramics used by the Salinas Pueblo Indians of New Mexico from the early 1600s to the 1670s. Increased pressures on native women's time may have resulted in a decline in the quality of the ceramic pastes, an increase in the presence of mend holes, changes in household size and composition that may have resulted in changes in the sizes of cooking vessels, and a decrease in food availability that may have resulted in decreased sizes or quantities of storage jars. While the …

Moving Targets: Meanings Of Mobility In Metropolitan Nairobi, Meghan Elizabeth Ference

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of the urban transportation system in Nairobi, Kenya and the large youth workforce who operate it. Currently, the informal mini-bus taxi system made up of vehicles called matatus, carries nearly 80% of the urban population in Nairobi on a daily basis. It is, by far, the most popular form of transportation in the country and employs the largest number of young people, as well. This type of transportation is not unique to African countries as mini-bus: 14-32 passengers) and midi-bus: 32-48 passengers) taxis are common in Turkey, Jamaica, Philippines, Russia and Chile …

Do You Know How To Dance?: Mediating Identity Through Film And Dance In Visakhapatnam, India, Kaitlin Patterson, Dr. Charles Nuckolls

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I went to India to study gender relations in the family, but as I spent more time there I came to know a group of striking individuals and instead focused my research on a similar topic, film as a mediator of culture, but in this case a mediator for the deaf. The Omkar and Lions School for the Deaf (OLSD) looks out onto the bright blue bay of Visakhapatnam, India. Despite the beautiful view, the students rarely spend time in the water; their time is consumed with other things. They have school to go to, homework to complete, temple to …

Prophets, Scripts, And Nations: Hmong Religious And Ethnonational Borders In Northern Thailand, Belinda Ramirez, Dr. Jacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a sociocultural anthropology major, my ORCA project entailed spending three months on an ethnographic study. I chose to conduct this study in northern Thailand among the Hmong, a small hill tribe ethnic group. During my stay in a Hmong community near Pua, Nan Province, I spent much of my time with a small messianic religious group known as Is Npis Mis Nus (pronounced “ee bee mee new”), or Is Npis for short. My goals were to understand the various concepts of nationalism and ethnicity for both the Is Npis and the Hmong in general, which I ascertained largely through …

Students Tell Local Immigrant Stories Through Films And Photos, Kim Hill

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

From Exquisite To Extinct: Linguistic Human Rights In The Tibetan Diaspora || Tibetan Pragmatics, Standardization Ethics And Obligatory Bilingualism, Camille Zora Inge

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This work documents a sample of the rich qualities of Tibetan language and discusses how Buddhism is embedded and woven throughout its character. From translation compounds revealing the deeper meaning of Lord Buddha to morpho-­‐ syntactic implications of the emptiness of the self, Tibetan offers a window into an insider’s understanding of Buddhist philosophy. With such a vibrant linguistic story, Tibetan language ought to be respected and upheld, taught and treasured. But, the Chinese occupation in Tibet has resulted in a physical and cultural degradation of Tibetan culture. One of the least tangible yet most affective oppressions has been upon …

Pierogies To Hamburgers: An Immigration Story, Madeline Cross '13

Outstanding Ethnographic Research Projects

This ethnographic study examines the experiences of an immigrant from Poland through visual media. The process of becoming a citizen, the transition to American culture, and current identity as a Polish American are addressed. The consultant for this ethnography is Agnieszka (Agnes) Kubas who is a Junior at Illinois Wesleyan University. Agnes moved from Poland to America 12 years ago.

Agnes’s immigration story is a culmination of historical and cultural factors that she experienced on a personal level. The three main themes of Agnes’s story were the language barrier, the transition to the American educational system, and the way her …

Language Shift And Development: A Case Study Of Zhongdian Southern Khams Language Vitality, Simon Peters

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The fields of language endangerment and maintenance address language shift overwhelmingly in the context of a local language being replaced by that of a surrounding oppositional dominant cultural group. There are, though, situations in which a local language is competing with the dominant variety of the wider cultural group to which it belongs. How a situation like this is dealt with by linguists and language planners depends largely on the recognition of participant tongues as their own languages or one as a dialect of another. Reversing language shift for a “dialect” is difficult to garnish institutional and financial support for …

Think Like A Mongolian: Cultivating Community Based Pasture Management, Karen Elizabeth Yoshida Weldon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since Mongolia’s democratization and move to a free market, the country has been grappling with the best approaches to deal with pasture degradation caused by both climate change and lifestyle changes of nomadic herders. International donors and NGOS have implemented community based natural resource management projects with the missions mitigating the effects of pasture degradation and livelihoods of herding families through building capacity. While studies have been done regarding the effectiveness of these community based conservation projects, minimal research has been done to understand how the traditions, values, and culture of Mongolia herders affect the success of these pastureland conservation …

Evolving Stages: Duty And Fate In The Construction Of Tibetan Tradition, Divya Chandramouli

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper, I discuss themes of preservation, adaptation, and the construction of tradition in the context of Tibetan performing arts. I chose to explore these issues by looking specifically at a play composed by His Holiness the current Karmapa, based on the life of Milarepa, one of the most revered yogis of Tibetan Buddhism. This play is unique in the sense that many of its aspects stem directly from traditional Tibetan opera, or lhamo, yet the ways in which it was presented and the reasons why it was presented this way diverge considerably from “tradition.” I conducted my research …

Kachin Sound Instruments Within The Context Of The Kachin Baptist Convention Of Northern Burma: History, Classification, And Uses, Walter Brath

Masters Theses

This organology identifies and describes the Kachin's sound instruments, classifies them according to the Hornbostel-Sachs' system, and considers evidence of an indigenous classification scheme. Very little research exists to date on the music of the Kachin peoples of Northern Burma. This paper cites the only known indigenous organology and is the first English language study to extrapolate evidence into an emergent classification system. This qualitative study is based on ethnographic interviews, the minimal literature available on the topic, and participant observation drawn from fieldwork conducted in the Kachin State of Northern Burma (modern day Myanmar) during the months of May …

Neoliberal Ideologies And Cultural Models Of Work Among Young French And American Business Students And Professionals: A Study In Institutional Change And Cultural Meaning, Nolan Y. Ferar

Pomona Senior Theses

In this thesis I analyze semi-structured interviews I conducted with fifteen young French and American business students and professionals in order to uncover cultural models relating to work, while paying particular attention to the acceptance or rejection of neoliberal ideas. To contextualize the analysis, I first review the history of neoliberal ideology along with its arrival and political and institutional influence in both countries. In the U.S., the neoliberal transition was rapid and dramatic under the Reagan administration, which constitutes a critical institutional juncture and a shift in the dominant paradigm of governance. In France, in contrast, neoliberal policies have …

Migration For Education: Haitian University Students In The Dominican Republic, Jenny Miner

Pomona Senior Theses

Haitian university students represent a part of the increasing diversity of Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. Using an ethnographic approach, I explore university students’ motivations for studying in the Dominican Republic, their experiences at Dominican universities and in Dominican society, Haitian student organizations, and their future plans. Additionally, I focus on Haitian students’ experiences with discrimination and how they relate to other Haitian migrants in the Dominican Republic. I find that most students come to the Dominican Republic due to the difficulty of gaining entrance to affordable Haitian universities and logistical convenience. The university is a unique setting where …